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Zucchini Kichadi - Zucchini in creamy coconut and yogurt sauce

Hey all..Hope u had a blissful weekend..The change in the season gave me a cold, hinting the winter is just a breath away.So there was nothing blog worthy happening in the kitchen for some time.I figured this is the time to clear up some things from my drafts.

In picture :- Zucchini Kichadi

I made this Zucchini kichadi for our Ona sadya in August, with a giant Zucchini from my Aunts garden.We got it a week just before Onam and it was sooo big, almost the size of a pumpkin.(Hope i m not comparing apples to oranges). Thus my Onam sadya had a fair share of Zucchini , showing its presence in Avial, Sambar, Koottu Thoran and Kichadi; yet we got to eat this fresh produce for many more days. Actually the Sadya this time was a straight from the garden affair, with produce from relatives' , friends' and our own small garden. I wanted to make a Vellarikka( Cucumber) Pachadi / Kichadi, but since i had this Zucchini, I decided to give it a try. It was mind blowing-ly delicious..

On a different note, people always get confused with Pachadi and kichadi. May be people call this with different names in different regions of Kerala . As far as i m concerned Pachadi is the combination of sauteed vegetable with Yogurt, seasoned with mustard seeds, shallots, chile and curry leaves; Where as in Kichadi , besides the mentioned mix, it will have fine paste of coconut and crushed mustard seeds. If you guys have any thoughts on this, please lemme know..

In picture :- Zucchini Kichadi

Ingredients:-

Zucchini peeled and cubed - 1.5 cup

Green chiles slit lengthwise - 3-4 ( naduve keeriyathu)

Salt to taste

Water - 1/4 cup

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Yogurt/Curd - 1 cup

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/8 tsp

For seasoning

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Dry red chile - 2-3 nos

Curry leaves

Oil

Method:-

Cook Cubed Zucchini with green chilies, salt and 1/4 cup water till its is tender and water is all absorbed.

Grind grated coconut with cumin seeds and mustard seeds to a very fine paste by adding a little curd. Mix this coconut paste to beaten curd . Combine the coconut mixture with the cooked Zucchini.

Bring to boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from fire before it boils or it will curdle.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they pop up add curry leaves and dried red chiles and pour this over the curry. Serve warm

Notes :-

--For making Pachadi with the same, omit grated coconut and cumin seeds, but if you like you can add a pinch of crushed mustard seeds.--Do not add water while grinding coconut, add a little curd to get the right mix.--Stir continuously while simmering the curry , and remove the pan from fire, as soon as it is heated through so that it wont curdle, just like we do while making moru kachiyathu.--The flavor of mustard seeds makes this dish unique , how ever,Some doesn't like the strong taste of grinding mustard seeds with coconut , in that case crush the mustard seeds in a mortar and pestle and add to the curry.

64 comments:

My husbands Aunt have a garden too and in the summer she gave us so much huge Zucchin andhave to say they taste far better than the one in the supermakets.I didn't know we could make this dish with zucchini, ilove it though,bookmarking this.

Oh sarah, that is a gr8 idea. i always sees this zucchini at my farmers market and had no idea what to do with that. me too has confusions with pachadi and kichadi.now with this recipe i can make this soon